It's Easter so the Regent Couple have moved to Marselisborg in Aarhus. They will move to Fredensborg for the summer on Tuesday.

According to BB it is very much hoped all eight grandchildren with parents will go to Marselisborg as well. But so far they haven't shown up yet.
There isn't that much room at Marselisborg, so Joachim and his family live on the top floor, while M&F and their children live in the Kavaller-building located between the manor and the main entrance. (See Google map in the Marselisborg thread).

However the DRF are not idle, while in Aarhus. Prince Henrik will visit the frigate Jutland in Ebeltoft Saturday. As Ebeltoft is, perhaps not right around the corner from where we live, then certainly a bit down the road, I might go to have a look at the giraffe. (*)
Today Thursday he inaugurated a new fittness centre, in central Aarhus, near the harbour. After he and his tennis mates had tried out the instruments of torture for an hour or so.
Wearing a "camping/caravan suit" he cut the ribbon, while joking with everyone around. The atmosphere was merry and far from solomn.

And Prince Henrik confided to us that: "When I work out I don't do it in order to have more muscles. I make sure I train the entire body in the various instruments. That results in a better well-being and then we all get in better shape to play tennis": (**)

(*) To go see the giraffe. - An idiom meaning you will go to see a person who is a novelty. That can mean a new girlfriend to one of your friends as well as going to watch the royals.

(**) One of PH's tennis partners live in Aarhus IIRC and they always swing the ketcher a bit when PH is at Marselisborg.
However, I know people who proudly exclaim they go to fitness a couple of times a week, and indeed they do. What they omit to metion is that afterwards they sit for a couple of hours eating pastry and having coffee. One might suspect PH belongs in this catagory......

Prince Henrik is a jolly rolly poly gentleman. A big cuddly bear granddad. Thats how I see him. I like him, he has managed to keep his sense of humour and be himself after a lifetime of a difficult job for a man, being second behind his wife.

During their ten day long Easter holiday at Marselisborg Slot (manor) Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik had opportunities to nurture their protections in Jutland. Apart from that the Majesty was as always a faithful guest in Aarhus Cathedral, while the Prince Consort took care of his daily excersize, before the big arrival Easter Sunday of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary with the four grandchildren.
The CP couple had spend some days in the family hunting lodge at Trend together with the four little Princes and Princesses. Shortly before Easter they dropped by Marselisborg and a little more than 24 hours later they went home with one of Mols-Line's ferries from Aarhus to Odden (on Zealand). Late in the afternoon Easter Sunday Prince Henrik took his son and daughter-in-law as well as Prince Christian and Princess Isabella with him on a little outing. The little party drove out into the woods south of Aarhus and went for a walk along the beach, where especially the children and the royal dogs had the opportunity to romp freely in the soft sand. (**) In the meantime the nanny went for a walk with Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine in the pram on the paths in the park around Marselisborg Slot. (***)
While the Queen and the Crown Princess had a cosy time in the forenoon together with the children on the second day of Easter (Monday), which was also the 72nd anniversary for the occupation of Denmark during WWII, the Crown Prince and the Prince Consort made sure they had their daily excersize. While Frederik went for a ride in the forest on his mountainbike, Prince Henrik first went to fitness before finishing off with a tennis match in a nearby sports centre.
It wasn't the really big royal Easter where the entire family is gathered at Marselisborg Slot this year however. As in all other families it can be hard to find time enough when the family is growing with both daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
The CP couple and the grandchildren did drop by for a short visit, while Prince Joachim and Princess Marie were abroad with Prince Henrik and the newborn Princess, who still has the first visit at farmor and farfar (paternal grandparents) at Marselisborg Slot in store.

A note:
Already a couple of days after Queen Margrethe had started on her Easter holiday in Aarhus she had to go back to the capital in order to attend her duties and hold audiens (this must be Monday then) at Amalienborg. The trip back and forth took place in one of the new airforce rescue helicopters, which took off from Mindeparken = the Remembrance Park close to Marselisborg Slot. Four hours later the Majesty returned and with her on the way back was reverend Peter Parkov, who is a steady guest when the DRF celebrate Christmas and Easter at Marselisborg. (****)

As we already know Prince Henrik inagurated a fitness centre and visited the frigate Jylland. But QMII also went to two museums for which she is patron. The art museum Aros (*****) and the Old Town. (******)

- My guess is that Joachim and our Marie went to France to present the little Piaf to her relatives.

(*) Ken Richter is different from the other journalists at BB in the sense that he usually reports what he observes, no more, no less.

(**) A caption informs us that Mary drove the car on the way back, with grandpapa Henrik sitting next to her. PET was right behind them.

(***) It's not clear whether he means the park that belongs to Marselisborg or whether he meant the large Remembrance Park between the manor and the beach.

(****) SOK = The Navy Operational Command is located in Aarhus and almost every day a high ranking officer from the Defence Command in Copenhagen fly to Aarhus to take over the watch. - Especially when a warship is operating off the coast of Somalia, as is the case now.
How do I know? Because a friend of ours live directly beneath the flight path of the helicopters.
So my guess is that QMII at least on one of the flights, hitched a ride. There is plenty of room onboard the EH-101 to accomodate an admiral and a queen or two.

(*****) Aros is the latin name for Aarhus. From that a very competent local jazz band, Arosia, took its name.

(******) Den Gamle By = The Old Town. Always worth a visit for those interested in history. It consists of a number of old buildings moved to Aarhus from all over the country and it now resembles a wealthy merchant town some 150 years ago.
But right now they are constructing and adding an entire part of a city as it looked in 1950s to the early 70s.
- Only 40 years ago and in a museum! I'm getting old!

The death of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller has just been announced. Mr. Mc-Kinney Møller reached the age of 98; he was a good friend of the Danish royal family and I believe the only Danish non-royal holder of the order of the elephant.

And he died on the queen's birthday.

__________________Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.

UserDane, just last week did I wonder how Mr Møller was fairing. I even checked online to see if he had passed away as I couldn't recall having seen him in some time.

I expect the royal family shall attend his funeral?

A life certainly well lived.

Mr. Mc-Kinney Møller appeared only last week at a company event. It was admirable that he did (he was active till the last) but as you can see here BT nyheder, kendte, sport, krimi, kongelige og politik | www.bt.dk - second photo from the left he suffered som facial paralysis in his face. He suddenly very much looked his age. I'm almost sorry the public should get this picture of him as the last one.

Definitely a life well lived, an industrious one too.

__________________Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.

When the Danish national team will run the track in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv next Saturday, they will be supported by Culture Minister Uffe Elbaek and Crown Prince Frederik. For when the Minister of Culture announced his participation in the European Championships in Ukraine in order to support the Danish national team, adding Crown Prince Frederik to the occasion also came up.

But the decision will not be received with open arms everywhere. Lars Hovbakke, who is a historian and expert in the royal house and external lecturer at Copenhagen University, blames the Government for sending the Minister for Culture and the Crown Prince to the Ukraine because their government has been criticized for violating human rights and not having a democratic playing field.

"It's not something that is beneficial to Denmark in relation to how other democratic countries view us. When many of the other countries of the EU and NATO, which we normally compare ourselves with, because they are democracies in the same way as we is choosing to boycott, and we participate, I would definitely say that it is not is something that gives us plusses in our grade book. On the contrary, it pulls us down into how other democracies look at us", said Lars Hovbakke.

It's about the imprisonment of the former Ukranian PM and her treatment, which has been critizised and there have been calls for a political boycot of Ukraine. Indeed some countries have decided to boycot the Championships by withholding official representatives.
That has also been debated here in DK.

The stance of the government is that any such boycot should be undertaken by a united EU (the probabillities of that happening was at best remote) and that sports and politics should not be mixed.
As such the Danish Minister for Culture and as such also Crown Prince Frederik will attend the Championships.

That of course provides the opposition with an opportunity to tease the government, even though the former government did the exact same thing afew years back.

It's about the imprisonment of the former Ukranian PM and her treatment, which has been critizised and there have been calls for a political boycot of Ukraine. Indeed some countries have decided to boycot the Championships by withholding official representatives.
That has also been debated here in DK.

The stance of the government is that any such boycot should be undertaken by a united EU (the probabillities of that happening was at best remote) and that sports and politics should not be mixed.
As such the Danish Minister for Culture and as such also Crown Prince Frederik will attend the Championships.

That of course provides the opposition with an opportunity to tease the government, even though the former government did the exact same thing afew years back.

thanks for the insight.
I think this is a hard line to walk on. I think we can find faults or something to protest and boycott in every country.

I read that the princes of Austria, Felipe and Letizia, will be attending the Spain vs. Italy game.

I wonder if other countries will change their stance if their team is in the final .

Where a Maja Jørgensen would like to know whether Joachim and our Marie shouldn't bow and curtsey to Frederik and Mary as they are higher ranking.

Jon Bloch Skipper replies that the Order of Rank is the system used by the court in to determine who should arrive in what order, who should be seated where and so on. (*) But the DRF is above the Order of Rank. Instead they are ranked after their place in the Line of Succession.
Jon Bloch Skipper continues:
"The Crown Prince (and his wife) of course ranks higher than Prince Joachim and Princess Marie and some might be of the opinion that J&M in official contexts should bow to the CP couple and in that way show them the proper respect for the future regent couple of Denmark.
I myself prefer the loving and relaxed interaction that the couples use. That I actually think the majority of the Danes do.
We are after all talkning about close family members.
At special events we sometimes see the CP couple and J&M bow and curtsey to the Majesty, but that is something different. Because here it's the Majesty or the monarchy as an institution they show respect.
However, in nine out of ten cases the royals greet each other with the hand, kissing on the cheek and hugs".

(*) The Order of Rank and the protocol is followed stricktly at the DRF court, simply to avoid people feeling snubbed.